Drying artificial silk



1935- J. w. LUBBERHUIZEN 2,011,153

DRYING ARTIFICIAL SILK Filed Oct. 4, 1934 m O JW Patented Aug. 13, 1935PATENT OFFICE name ARTIFICIAL SILK Jan Willem Lubberhuizen, Arnhem,Netherlands, assig'nor to American Enka Corporation, Enka,

N. 0., a'corporation of Delaware Application October 4, 1934, Serial No.746,906

In Germany DecemberZl, 1933 a Claims.

This invention relates to a process of and an apparatus for dryingartificial silk in package form, and more particularly to such processand apparatus by which unsupported packages of ari- 5 tificial silk arecaused to be uniformly contracted during drying.

Inthe past, it has been the practice to subject freshly spun packages ofartificial silk to wash: ing and other similar wet treating processeswhile in package form. Subsequent to the wet treatment of the packagesthey were driedand according to the older procedures during the dryingthe packages were retained in the spinning pots or on bobbins, or as analternative the packages were placed on drying supports such as thesupports employed when dryingskeins of artificial silk. Another of theheretofore used I methods of drying the packages involved theflattening' of the packages together and the passing of these packagesonto drying frames. In all of these past modes of operation the dryingprogressed throughout the bodies of the packages in substantially alldirections.-

One decided disadvantage encountered in the former methods of drying theartificial silk packages was that the thread in the dried packages didnot possess uniform dye absorptive characteristics. The reasonforfnon-uniform dyeing of the thread'inpackages which were dried under30 conditions as above set forth is attributable .to

the variable contraction which occurred throughout the respectivepackages during such drying. When a drying agent is permitted to contactwith a package of artificial silk from all directions, the outerlay'ersof the package cannot contract to the same extent as the inner layersthereof since the outer layers cannot shrink freely due to the interiorof the package being still moist and more or less rigid with the resultthat the filaments or m thread of the outer layers meet substantialresistance from the inner layers.

In an efiort to overcome the disadvantages stated above resulting fromthe use of the older methods of drying artificial silk in package form,

45' various forms oi apparatus were devised with which the dryingoperation might be conducted in such a manner that the drying of theartiflcial T11: packages would occur progressively from the inside ofthe package to the outside. Such typesof apparatus and processes arefully described and claimed in copending applications which havebeen'assigned to the assignee in the present application, and bear thefollowing identification: Serial Number 732,715, filed June 27, 1934,Serial Number 736,939, filed July (Cl. id-24) 25, 1934, Serial Number740,018, filed August 15, 1934.

Briefly, these applications relate generally to apparatus which comprisemeans for positioning a plurality of artificial silk packages in such a6 manner that drying passages are formed through the thread-freeinterior of the said packages, and upon the introduction of a dryingmedium into these passages, the drying of the package takes placesubstantially progressively from the inside 10 to the outside of thepackage.

Whereas the so-called inside outside drying, when conducted according tothe teachings of the aforementioned applications, has produced greatlyimproved results over the prior practice, 15 insofar as the uniformityof the contraction during drying, and therefore the dyeing is concerned,

it has been found that a certain amount of leakage of the heating mediumhas occurred around the top and bottom of the packages, and has escapedinto the space defined by the outside of the packages and the walls ofthe container. This has caused a certain amount of drying on the outsideof the package before the main part of the drying operation hasprogressed from the inside to the outside thereof. Accordingly, it hasbeen determined that a small amount of difierence in contraction stillexists throughout all parts of the dried package.

' In' attempting to construct an apparatus wherein a process could beconducted which would effect a completely inside outside dryingoperation, experiments have been carried out in which a plurality ofpackages of artificial silk were placed in a box-like container having aperforated top and bottom, the said'periorations corresponding to thethread-free interior of the packages, and the space defined by thepackages and the walls of the container has. been filled in with aninsulating material made of rubber, thick fabric, wood, syntheticresins, etc. It was found however, that such a construction wasimpractical and ineihcient because of the fact the insulating materialemployed, always effected a certain amount of heat conductiontherethrough, and produced some drying on the outside of the packages ofartificial silk.

This invention therefor, hasas an object the provision of a method ofovercoming the above stated difliculties and an apparatus for success--50 fully carrying out such a method.

Other advantages and objects will be apparent in the following detaileddescription when considered in connection with the accompanying drawingwherein:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of an apparatus embodied in theinvention.

Figure 2 is a part planview of Figure 1, and

Figures 3 and 4 are modifications of Figure 2 showing the packages ofartificial silk deformed in triangular and hexagonal shapes. e

The invention may be more readily understood by referring to the drawingwherein I indicates a suitable container having side walls 2, and a.perforated base 3. The container is adapted to hold a plurality ofartificial silk packages 4. A perforated cover plate 5 is located abovethe packages, and is preferably adapted to rest thereon. Eachperforation 6 in the cover and base is located vertically above andbelow the thread-free interior of each package so that substantiallyairtight passages are formed therein for the purpose of confining theheating medium during the drying operation.

The invention resides in first deforming the wet packages of artificialsilk into polygonal shapes. By so doing, the packages may be placedwithin the container in such a manner that only a very small amount offree space exists between the outsides of the packages and between thepackages and the walls of the container.

It can readily be seen that when a drying medium is passed through theinterior of the packages, it will be confined to the interior of thesame, as no other free space exists, and

therefore during the drying operation, outside drying which hadpreviously occurred when employing round packages, is substantiallyeliminated. The drying progresses in a uniform manner and direction fromthe inside of each package to the outside, and, as a result of suchdrying the outer layers of thread are allowed to contract to the sameextent as the inner layers.

The scope of the invention is not limited to any specific shape intowhich the packages are deformed, as any convenient formation may beemployed whereby the packages can be closely packed in a dryingcontainer or cabinet and thereby greatly facilitate the uniformity ofthe contraction occurring throughout all parts of the packages duringthe drying thereof.

It is to be understood that any suitable apparatus maybe used and theinvention embodied in this application is not to be limited to thespecific form shown in the annexed drawing, as this drawing merely showsone form in which the drying medium is confined to the thread-freeinterior of each package.

' I claim:

1. A method of drying packages of artificial silk to produce threadcontained therein which has been uniformly contracted throughout allparts of the package which comprises deforming the said packages intopolygonal shapes and arranging a plurality of the thus formed packageswithin a drying container with the majority of the peripheral surfacesof the packages in contact, and thereafter drying the packages from theinside to the outside.

2. A method of drying packages of artificial silk to produce threadcontained therein which has been uniformly contracted throughout allparts of the package which comprises deforming the said packages intosquare shapes and arranging a plurality of the thus formed packageswithin a drying container with the majority of the peripheral surfacesof the packages in contact, and thereafter drying the packages from theinside to the outside.

3. In the drying of unsupported packages of artificial silk from theinside to the outside thereof, the method which comprises deforming thesaid packages into polygonal shapes and arranging a plurality of thethus formed packages within a box-like container in such a manner thatsubstantially no free space exists between the sides, top and bottom ofthe container and the packages, and a majority of the I peripheralsurfaces of the packages are in contact whereby when a drying medium isintroduced into the container it is confined to the thread-free interiorof each package only.

4. A method of drying packages of artificial silk to produce threadcontained therein which has been uniformly contracted throughout allparts of the package which comprises deforming the said packages intotriangular shapes and arranging a plurality of the thus formed packageswithin a drying container with the majority of the peripheral surfacesof the packages in contact, and thereafter drying the packages from theinside to the outside.

5. A method of drying packages of artificial silk to produce threadcontained therein which has been uniformly contracted throughout allparts of the package which comprises deforming the said edges intohexagonal shapes and arranging a plurality of the thus formed packageswithin a drying container with the majority of the peripheral surfacesof the packages in contact, and thereafter drying the packages from theinside to the outside.

JAN WIILEM LUBBERHUIZEN.

